Ashley Wilkie RVN, is a veterinary nurse and Associate Director with Thrums Vets, Scotland’s largest independent practice. She describes how her career developed and how she is fuelled by her drive for continually creating a positive working environment.

Please give a brief summary of your career path so far – feel free to share what motivated your career decisions:

In the summer of 1995, our High School sent us on a week’s work experience with companies in our community. This was to help us decide career paths and ensure we gained invaluable experience which would always look good on an application and a CV.

With a passion for animals, like many teenage girls, I was sent to Thrums Vets, my local practice. I loved my week – I remember watching small animal surgeries and helping in the prep room and kennels as well as being taken to a calving (which ended up as an embryotomy) and some routine equine visits. 

The staff were so welcoming and it secured my passion to want to become part of the veterinary community.

My willingness to work and can do attitude secured me a Saturday job with the company not long after my week with them. This role included cleaning, general husbandry, restocking and assisting with the patients – I loved it. 

In 1997, my final year at High School, Thrums’ directors offered me a position to do my veterinary nursing degree and I grasped it with both hands. Back then, there was only one nurse in the practice but the business was growing steadily so my position was justified. I studied at Edinburgh’s Telford College and in 2000 gained the title Veterinary Nurse which later became Registered Veterinary Nurse.  The team at Thrums supported my learning throughout, I was very lucky. 

As my confidence and skill set grew, I loved everything from anaesthesia to Schedule 3 procedures, becoming competent in minor surgeries and taking pride in my wound closures. I enjoyed consulting and ran a weight loss clinic for our podgy pups! I also led some very successful puppy socialisation classes which were always well attended and received by clients. 

In 2006, I was promoted to Head Nurse and began to grow our team as the business continued to grow. Helping new staff settle in and find their niche has always been satisfying. 

Years of growing the business, the client numbers and the team seemed to pass with many highs, and sadly some lows – not every day in veterinary can be happy – but thankfully the good always outweighs the bad.

With a team of 13 nurses firmly on board across four branches, in 2022 I saw myself gain a promotion to an Associate Director. This role is an amazing achievement for any veterinary nurse and I’m loving having a say in the direction of the business as well as helping to care for our staff. 

I’m immensely proud of my achievements and very humbled that I have a fantastic team around me, supporting me in my new role.  I’m grateful that my fellow directors recognised that as a nurse, I had the skill set needed for their management team. 

What is it about your work that enthuses you and brings you satisfaction?

There are never two days the same in general practice, and this variety keeps me focused and stops me from wearying.  In my new role I’m loving helping to roll out our culture and values in each branch as well as ensuring we are getting the best from our staff.

We spend a great deal of our lives in a work environment so to be successful, we need the work environment to be positive, and for working relationships to be good. The passion and drive to always make Thrums a better place to work for everyone makes me get up every morning.

What is the biggest challenge to staying passionate in your veterinary career you’ve overcome, and how did you approach it?

At one time, before our culture had been addressed, at a time of rapid growth with the influx of many new faces, it was incredibly difficult for me. I felt lost, my team felt lost and for the first time, I felt like I had lost control and confidence in leading my team. 

Thankfully my directors felt similar and as team, we began to roll out our culture and our positivity, and gave a clear message of what behaviours and attitudes we expected. 

It’s been a process and requires ongoing work but team engagement and satisfaction are now well established.

What advice can you share with others embarking on similar paths about finding fulfilment in their veterinary career?

Always lead by example and be the best colleague you can be. I’ve embarked on lots of leadership training and learned lots about myself and my team. I’ve definitely become very self-aware of how I am and how I approach others, focusing on where I can improve. 

Help your business to build good relationships and habits by working on your culture – a business lacking good culture soon becomes a place staff don’t feel safe and don’t achieve.

Find what areas you enjoy within your qualifications and grow these – your job satisfaction will be at an all-time high by doing this. 

Insights training is invaluable to help anyone in management understand the different personalities within the team and to aid them to get the very best from individuals.

What best sums up your approach to keeping yourself and your team motivated and engaged within veterinary careers? 

In each branch we have listed what is important in our culture. We have a visual list of good culture we want to see and a small list of bad culture that no one wishes to see. Having the daily visual reminds staff of the behaviours we expect them to display under our roof.

We work on gratitude, often finishing meetings by voicing three things we are grateful for – in work or in our personal lives. We also work on our teams to have a growth mindset. It can be incredibly challenging being in an independent practice if your team don’t understand and get on board with where we are going and more importantly, why. 

Communication is key – good communication to all staff is essential every minute of every day. Make time for meetings and let staff have voices and hear them. 

Be mindful that to implement new strategies, it takes seven nudges so don’t ask just once as it just won’t happen! 

What do you feel would most benefit job satisfaction in the veterinary professions, and how could we work towards implementing this?

For me, it’s having good culture and a safe place for staff to thrive – simple!

For employers – having a structure and ensuring good leadership skills for those embarking on senior positions and to be mindful of hardworking staff and reward them for their efforts.  Employers should look at their teams and see the potential in nurses and lay staff – many practices have hidden gems. 

Always say thank you – it goes a long, long way in any workplace.


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